Bubbles and Fresh find out too late that Madilyn is the Marine CO, Cidra delivers the news in an indirect way. Pom Poms join the mix.

Date:

17 May 2041 AE

Related Logs:

None

Players:

Athletics Area

A large pair of mats dominates the center of this room, their centers taped-out for a small area to practice boxing or other martial arts. Around the outside are treadmills, bikes, weights, and an impressive variety of gym equipment to help tone and shape the bodies of the crew. To one side of the room is the locker room while at the rear is a hatch that leads back to the oversized swimming pool. Off to the side is a rack that holds boxing gloves, pugil sticks, and the associated pads for the sticks.

Post-Holocaust Day: #80

A couple days went by since Cerberus had to use it's FLT drive, things have been a bit shaky for everyone and people is trying to shake of that uneasy feeling by doing different things. Ethan, is swimming, that's something that relaxes him quite a bit, besides, since his back was a bit sore after the abrupt landing, swimming does good to him, after warming up of course. Not a lot of people is gathered around, less people is actually doing some swimming. The young Ensign is currently wearing navy blue bathing shorts.

Psyche stands at the deep end of the pool, eyeing the water suspiciously. She dips in just a toe and recoils, shivering dramatically. "Bleaugh," she opines of the temperature, shucking her robe with a sigh. "Chilly water. Worlds of suck." The robe is tossed over the rail of a pool ladder, and the little blonde pilot pinches her nose shut, closing her eyes. "INCOMING!" She takes a running LEAP and cannonballs into the water.

Some people are less-stressed than others about the status of Operation Cobra Talon: Madilyn is not one of them. Quite a few of her Marines are there planetside, for starters, not to mention the rest of the crew — deckies, pilots, engineers — all pressed into makeshift Marine mode as well. Why she's here? Who can say. She never was a big swimmer, but there's something more that seems more therapeutic in swimming than in smashing a bag until her knuckles were red and raw (that was a few days ago). The splashes declare that other folks are using the pool, but that's to be expected. She makes little sound or fuss as she enters the pool area, observing the swimmers, nodding in greeting while she finds a place to hang her robe and towel.

Focused while doing laps, the thing that breaks Ethan's concentration is Psyche's Cannonball. He stops close to the middle of the pool and turns around; and amused smile crosses his lips as he notices the blonde girl and offers "Nice one, Bubbles" He maintains his position for a moment, just idly moving his arms to keep his head out of the water. He also spots Madilyn and returns her nod, following the woman with his gaze as she stops to find a place to hang her stuff. He looks back at Psyche and asks "Also here to battle soreness?"

Psyche sputters and gasps a little as she surfaces, wiping water from her face. She bats spiky eyelashes at Ethan, blinking away chlorine, then smiles. "Oh hey, Fresh." She treads water, floating there easily, and shrugs. "Not so much. Just… you know. I have to do some kind of exercise on a regular basis — I'm not one of those naturally skinny girls. I get poochie if I don't watch it." She puffs out her cheeks to demonstrate just how 'poochie' looks. She wrinkles her nose. "You get knocked around in the Raptor, last CAP?"

Oh pilot talk, how Madilyn abhors thee! Robe and towel set aside, she makes for the far end of the pool, which in this case is the shallow end. Thankfully. She can slide in with minimal splashing that way! Hair is pulled back into a ponytail rather than kept in a tight bun today, since it's going to get wet no matter way. Better to just make it easier on herself. The two pilots chat, and she slides down the ladder into the shallow water with a little grimace at the cool water.

Ethan listens to what Psyche says and from time to time, he nods. "I would say that, but not a lot really, just a little bit…the controls went boom and I hit my back a little. I've heard that, one of the best things to do is to swim a little and relax the muscles" he shrugs at that, he's no doctor of course but so far, it seems to be working. His attention is stolen for a moment by the Marine, but goes back to Psyche a few moments after "You? I think you did the best landing" And Pilots /are/ to be loved!

"Yeah, well, I didn't have two bandits on my ass," Psyche redirects the compliment. "You and Flasher, on the other hand, did a pretty whiz-bang job — pretty nice flying, especially considering Splash and me couldn't hit the side of a frakking barn." She looks both worried and irritated then, a little black cloud of perturbation overhanging her demeanor. "Heard anything about how he's doing?" Guilt flits across her features. "I should've gone to see him, I know, but… really, I'm sorta afraid I might punch his frakking lights out. And that's just not cool to do to a guy in a gurney, y'know?"

"You're all crazy, if you ask me. You'd be hard-pressed to cram me into the cockpit of one of those godsforsaken missiles with wings," Madilyn comments matter-of-factly as she slides forward into the water to begin taking a slow lap. She's not the most nimble in the water, but at least she doesn't doggy paddle along. She front crawls slowly down one of the lanes, kicking here and there. The water is left as undisturbed as possible, so that she can remain in the conversation.

Ethan smiles after Psyche's comments and offers "Thanks, I do have to say that I was pretty tense." he takes a deep breath and explains "This is the first time that something happens to me since Warday, so a few memories came back." he nods to this and then, to answer Psyche's question, he shakes his head "No, haven't heard anything. I know that, when I landed the Raptor, Deck crew was already covering Splash's Viper. They got to us as well, since the controls looked like a Christmas Tree" He notices Psyche's expression and says "Don't beat to hard on yourself and also, don't beat on him when you visit" a small smile offered and now he looks at Madilyn "Oh, well, I drive the so called 'School-Bus'" he smiles to this and finishes with "Which, if you ask me is pretty awesome" he looks at Psyche "And so are Vipers of course" The guy likes flying, that's certain.

Cidra emerges from one of the changing rooms, dressed down in standard military-issue swim gear, a towel looped around her waist like a long skirt. She's pool-bound as well, it appears. The other present, particularly the pair of pilots, are noted. She pauses as she hears snatches of the conversation but does not immediately interrupt. Heading quietly pool-side.

Psyche glances at the swimming marine, frowning. "Yeah, well, it's a frakkdamn good thing we're crazy. Someone's gotta have the balls to fly." She smirks at Ethan. "Awesome is as awesome does, or something. But yeah, that was an intense situation. I'm glad you guys were out there with us." She shrugs. "This is why I'm not going to visit. I'll beat on him when he's cleared for duty." A glance to the side brings Cidra into her view, and she raises a hand to wave. "Hey Boss!"

"Well, when you pilots decide you'd like to spend your days within the confines of the ship, getting shot at by Cylons so close that you can see that red eye, please…come talk to me." Madilyn can take a ribbing, especially when it comes from a pilot, knowing that there old air versus ground debate has been going on as long as there's been Vipers in the air and pilots to fly them. When Psyche calls out to Cidra, Madilyn turns to look as well. "Hello Major. Am I here during air-wing swim hour?"

Ethan looks at Psyche when she speaks to Madilyn and then focuses his attention on the Marine. "Well yeah, of course, we could do that. But then again, someone has to take care of the flying ones out there…and you /can/ get close enough to see the red eyes. Well, mostly the Viper pilots can, Raptors are…sneaky about it." he smiles to this and, well, since everyone is looking to one specific spot, he looks at well "Hello Major" offers the Ensign with a polite tone of voice after spotting the CAG. Yeah he already screwed up a couple times in front of the CAG so he'll be looking to avoid saying dumb things from now on.

"Major, a good day," Cidra offers with the barest hint of a smile to Madilyn. "Not that I am aware of. It is most good for the muscle tone, though, so I in general approve. They were not causing you too much bother, I trust?" A wink to the Marine commander. A nod to the pair of pilots, speaking of. Her expression, as ever with the woman, is difficult to read. She lowers herself into the water. "You are both well, yes? You had a rather harrowing adventure on your last CAP, I have heard."

Psyche's eyebrows shoot up — CRAP — as Cidra gives the other blonde in the pool a rank. Frakking great. Still. "Fresh is right. Sir," the honorific is tacked on stiffly and politely. "We get plenty close out there." And speaking of that, she nods to Cidra as the CAG enters the pool. "Yessir," she agrees with a wan smile. "It was a clusterfrak, alright. Flasher and Fresh here handled themselves really well, though."

The little faux pas is forgiven implicitly, as Madilyn just continues to front stroke her way up and down the length of the pool. "Well, more power to you all, I suppose. Flying hasn't ever been a great interest of mine." Nope, not at all. And she's not exactly fond of flying in the back of Raptors either, since her first experience with hot-LZs got her a broken leg to show for it. "Prefer to have the ground under me when I shoot, even if it is just metal deck material."

Cidra eyes Psyche as she hastily adds the honorific to the Marine, nodding shortly. Not that it's strictly necessary off-duty, but she approves until they're told otherwise. "I would Medical shall have me a proper report on Ensign Malone soon, but I expect him to recover soon enough. Thank all gods." If she's more to add about said little adventure, it's tabled for now. They are off-duty, after all. She dunks herself under the water, swimming a few links beneath it before coming up. Still in a shallow enough end to stand on the bottom, but immersed up to her shoulders. Her tattooed arms stretch languidly as she acclimates to the water and she lets out a refreshed, "Ah." That's the stuff. A shake of her wet hair, and nod back to Madilyn. "We are all but components to a greater whole, Major. All serve in their own way, and all honors for it."

Well, that's a surprise. Ethan by now is bored of sticking his foot in his mouth so he just takes a deep breath and exhales. "Yes, in the end, we are all fighting for the same thing" he nods politely to this and his attention is directed to the CAG now "Yes, thanks Major, just a bit shaken" he looks at Psyche and smiles softly "We all did our best out there, and we came back as a team" It actually feels good to say that, team, certainly has a nice ring to it. "Splash will be alright, I'm sure of it"

"What they said," Psyche thirds the CAG's sentiment with a wry smile. She blinks at Ethan, then ruffles the Ensign's hair. "Aww. That's sweet. Team spirit and all. Do you want my pom-poms? I don't have the uniform anymore, but I don't think you would've fit into it anyways." She shakes her head. "You need to cultivate some ego and some swagger, Freshy! Sticks have a rep to uphold!"

"Frankly, I'm surprised some of said sticks can fit their ego in the cockpit," Madilyn says with a little smirk. She's still slowly sliding up and down the length of the pool, doing lazy laps. She sort of expects a splash to be coming her way after that sort of statement, though.

Cidra smiles a very slight smile on the subject of egos. It's wry, but there's no comment from her. Or splash to Madilyn. She falls into some lazy laps herself, idly working the muscles in her shoulders and legs, but more unwinding than anything else.

Ethan opens his mouth to say something to Psyche but no words come out, at least at first. He presses his lips together and smirks "But I would have to shave my legs, wouldn't I" he shakes his head at this with an amused smile and offers "I'll pass on that one Bubbles, but thanks for the offer of course" He looks at the Marine Major and says "Well, getting in is the easy part…legend says however that each pilot comes with a Plunger just in case" He smirks at that, a bit more at ease and going back to his regular self, which increases the potential of him saying something not politically correct.

Psyche shakes her head. "Nah. I think you might be able to get away without shaving your legs — but just in case you ever DO decide to wear a mini-skirt? You should at least trim your bikini area." She sagenods. "Take it from a girl who's seen way too many fraternity pledges in drag." Apparently, Bubbles has no such concerns about decorum. She waggles a wave and strikes out into a swim. "Nice chattin'! Gotta do some laps!"

To spare herself the chatter of male bikini zone hygeine and Viper jocks in skirts, Madilyn decides to take a dive. With a little splash and a kick, she goes vertical and slides under the surface of the water. With a few breast strokes she moves forward, then surfaces for a breath of air, thankfully after the talk is finished.

Cidra flips over on her back to briefly eye on Psyche and Ethan. Well, that's an image she'll have affixed in her head for awhile. Back on her stomach she flips, and she continues in her laps. Stroke, stroke, stroke. "You show good timing and wisdom, Major," she remarks dryly to Madilyn after she's come up. In time to avoid certain strands of the conversation.

"Yeah, keep swimming…" amusedly says Ethan to Psyche. And now everyone suddenly left him fairly alone. The Ensign sighs and swims towards the edge of the pool. With his arms, he helps himself to get out of the pool. Now the young man runs his right hand over his left shoulder and looks around for his towel. After taking it, he walks back to the pool and sits on the edge while he uses the towel over his torso.

Madilyn seems content to just go back to laps herself as the pilots settle down enough to do the same. "I wish I could say that was a skill, Major. Usually it's just blind luck. However, with children, you develop the ability to filter out the non-essential information when you can't make yourself busy." People pile out, but Madilyn just continues to lap the pool, her target being about 20 laps before she finally calls it quits.

If Cidra has a target in her swimming, it's unclear. The CAG still seems as much to be in this to relax as for any kind of exercise goal. A turn of her head and nod to Madilyn as the woman finishes. She'll continue for awhile, for her part, though she grows quiet and more engrossed in actually swimming now.